The Ghost
by Naoko Askikaga-Uchiha
Summary: [oneshot] Naruto wakes up to the sound of a deep, mysterious voice, demanding him to open the door. Obeying the voice, he opens the door, but nobody's there. Is is his mind playing tricks, or someone wanting to see him, or something else...? Mild language


**The Ghost**

**A/N: **Not exactly sure why I'm writing a story like this. It's a little late for Halloween, so it's definitely not a Halloween fanfic. It was probably after I read the plot from The Lovely Bones. I was looking for something to read for my book report at school…nyeh. Well, enjoy!

Naruto snored lightly, fixed upon his bed face down, drooling on his pillow. It was just the start of a regular day in Konoha, the sun carefully rising. Nothing really was going through Naruto's head while he was asleep, but what really does? Suddenly, a heavy knock was heard.

"OPEN UP!" The strange, deep voice called from outside.

Naruto flinched, and propped himself up, wiping the excess drool on his sleeve. His eyes were half-open, and wondered who was at the door.

"Nehh…coming," Naruto sleepily replied, not taking consideration about the sound of the mystery person's voice. He tottered over to his door, and slowly opened it.

Nothing was there.

"Huh…I could swear there was someone here knocking at the door," Naruto said to himself, being a little more alert. He shut his door, and walked over to the kitchen to eat some ramen. He took only two steps, and the knock was heard again.

"HEY! I SAID OPEN UP!" The same, deep voice said even louder from outside.

Naruto, finally fully alert, opened the door in a split second from where he was standing. Again, nobody was there. He stepped outside, and looked left, right, above, and below. Nothing. Not a single person. He didn't see some sort of hole he could've gone out of from the ground, or from above. Naruto stepped lightly on the floor outside his apartment. Then stepped harder. No hollow spot, nothing. Puzzled, he closed his door slowly. Once it was shut, he turned around.

"HEY!" The voice said. Naruto flinched. "I SAID OPEN UP! YOU KEEP CLOSING THE DAMN DOOR!"

"ALRIGHT, YOU DUMBASS! COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!" Naruto flung open his door once again, and again, nothing.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO PLAY HERE?!" Naruto shouted. "I NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG TO YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE!"

"I'm right in front of you, ya know," The mysterious voice said. Naruto heard it, but didn't see it.

"Uhh…where?" He asked, looking everywhere, once again.

"In front of you, baka," The deep voice said again. "I'm a ghost."

Naruto jumped up so high, he almost hit his ceiling. "A GHOST?! WTF??? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME FOR?! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!!! WELL EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE TIME-"

"Shut up, please," the ghost interrupted. "I'm not going to kill you or whatever. I can't even touch you, for Christ's sake. I came to see my old place. I used to live here."

"Uh…okay, knock yourself out," Naruto replied, calming down. "Will I be able to see you? You're freaking me out just by talking to me with that creepy-sounding low voice of yours."

"Sorry," The ghost replied, having a voice more softer, like a 16-year-old, and not a 35-year old man. "In Heaven, I get the opportunity to disguise my voice if I ever wanted to come back and visit the real world. I apologize for startling you with it."

The ghost suddenly appeared, slowly forming from the swishes of wind binding around his body. A teenager about as old as Naruto appeared, wearing white from head to toe. His hair was chocolate brown and very scruffy. Dark eyes filled his sockets, and pale skin stretched over his average-sized body. Surprisingly, his Konoha headband was still around his forehead. He looked at Naruto with sorrow, and stepped inside.

"You have a name?" Naruto asked, closing the door. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm a shinobi, and soon-to-be the GREATEST-"

"…Hokage, right?" The ghost finished. "I know, I've been watching you say that a million times. I'm Haruki, and I used be a ninja, too."

"Oh…" said Naruto a little more seriously. "How'd you die? Did you like…die in battle or what?"

"Murder, rather," Haruki corrected. "I was asleep in this very apartment, dead asleep, actually, and someone killed me while I was doing so. It was a good friend of mine…why he wanted to kill me, I'll never know."

Naruto felt a chill down his spine, finding out that someone committed a murder in his very home. Haruki walked around the abode, while the blonde ninja followed him from behind.

"Why wouldn't you notice a thing like that? You're pretty idio-" Naruto started.

"Idiotic, no," the ghost finished once again. "He put something in my drink that night that made me crash and drain all my chakra and strength when I would fall asleep and wake up. I was fooled, by a trick such like that."

"So…you're here to reminisce?" Naruto asked.

"Yes…it's my death anniversary today," Haruki said. "If I were alive now, I'd be about in my mid-20s…"

"You get to do this every year?"

"Yeah," He answered. "Sometimes I come down here just to see how Konoha has changed, but that's all. I wish I could've spent more time here…"

"What did you want to do in life?" Naruto continued.

"I didn't want to become Hokage, or be the greatest ninja in the history of mankind, or become a jounin, even…I just wanted to live happily for a long time. I wanted to have kids, marry, watch them grow while the world continues to change."

Naruto, in his mind, thought of this as a stupid reason to live, but began to realize his pain inside, to be dead and not live a long life, like he wanted.

"You're pretty lucky, Naruto," Haruki stated. "You've escaped death so many times, while I, foolishly, take a drink from a friend who I thought was one of the best people I've met in my life, and take a step toward my death."

"You're not that foolish," Naruto contradicted. "It was something you just didn't see…right?"

"Wrong," Haruki answered. "It was my judgment. Someone, who I thought, was loving, kind, caring, and a best friend, offered my a spiked drink and kills me later that night. I would never want to know why he killed me…there's no use now, since I'm dead."

Naruto looked at Haruki. His eyes showed the deepest thoughts of sadness and forlornness he has ever seen. "Sorry about that…if you want, you can come a little more often to stay. I don't mind…as long as you don't follow me or whatever around and about."

"I thank you for the offer, Naruto," Haruki began to say, "But no thank you. I only come here once in a blue moon, and I think it's about time to go. But before I go, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Yeah, what?" Naruto asked.

Haruki took something out of his pant pocket, and it was a small, rose red heart-shaped box. He opened it, and shined the prettiest pair of earrings Naruto has ever seen. It was a ruby pair of earrings, that shined like the sun. Naruto gently took the box from Haruki, and closed it.

"I thought you couldn't touch me," Naruto exclaimed.

"You didn't touch _me_, did you?" Haruki asked back. "You only touched the box. Please bury this in front of the tombstone of Aiko Ki. I saw her die in action from Heaven during a mission with my so-called friend. I guess kunai these days are pretty strong. I was meaning to give it to her earlier…but…yeah."

"How come she's not in Heaven with you? Can't you give it to her there?" Naruto asked.

"The journey to the Next Life is a long one, my friend," Haruki advised. "Defy all the evil on that journey, and you are able to enter the wonderful place like Heaven. I bet when you die, you'll love it, too. It's about time for me to leave. Thanks, Naruto."

"No prob," Naruto answered. A very luminescent white light from above the middle of the ceiling shined down like a spotlight on Haruki, and he lifted up slowly. He turned to Naruto, waved goodbye, and said these last words to him:

"I'll see you later…much later," Haruki said.

Naruto smiled, and replied, "You betcha! Hey, say hi to the Third Hokage for me!!!"

Haruki smiled back, finally showing warmth beneath his depressed corpse, and disappeared as he went past the ceiling. The light vanished, and Naruto looked at the box again. He set it on his dining table, ate breakfast, got dressed, and hurriedly ran down to the cemetery, where Aiko's grave was.

A rough, grey tombstone labeled the ground where her body was, and Naruto sighed deeply. He took one of his kunai knives, and dug a small hole in front of the stone. Naruto looked at the shimmering ruby earrings for one last time, closed the box, and buried it. He stood up, rubbed the dirt off his knees, and walked slowly away from the grave.

**A/N:** Well, what did Naruto learn here? Never judge a book by its cover. If you think a little differently, you can always put up a review. I accept any kind of any sort. Thank you for reading!


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